All Fermi answers
Fermi #21 · Question 2

How many shots of vodka are sold in Russia every day?

Explore the official answer and the simple reasoning behind this Fermi estimate.

2QUESTION 2 OF 3

Answer & explanation

A "shot" is 50 ml (1.7 oz)

The official answer, with Fermi’s reasoning step by step.

Answer & explanation

Official answer

41,000,000

shots

How to estimate it

Fermi’s official “Napkin math”

Start with Russia's population, about 145 million, so maybe 110 million adults. How often does the average adult have a shot of vodka? Not every day, but often. Call it once every three days.

Russian adults
~110,000,000
Shots per adult per day
÷ 3
110M ÷ 3
≈ 37,000,000

Rounded assumptions may give a slightly different estimate. The official answer above is the game’s reference value.

Source calculation & reference
Vodka retail sales, Russia
≈ 750,000,000 litres/year
Per day
÷ 365 ≈ 2,050,000 litres
One shot
÷ 0.05 litres
≈
41,000,000 shots/day

Reference cited by Fermi: Rosstat-based retail alcohol sales data reported by RBC

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